truth36

hi all. I just turned 40 yrs old a couple of days ago. I am aware of my problem with alcohol and have been for some time but I have not taken any real steps to deal with my problem. I am ashamed to admit it, but i am a therapist and try to help others. I am not being honest with myself and i do not like this as about me. i have relationship problems due to alcohol use as well. i guess u could say i today is the first day i have not drank since i drank last night.looking for a safe place to share without judgment.

Sydney1988

I'm fairly new too. This place is an amazing resource to talk with people who know what you're going through and I can honestly say there is definitely no judgement.

Be open and talk about what's going on. I have, and I've received some wonderful and insightful pieces of wisdom.

Welcome, it's nice to have you here!

IOAA2

Welcome. There is a lot of informed helpful people here to offer suggestions about how to not drink along the road to sobriety, mostly common sense suggestions which are not always easy. Naturally one would be to not pick up the first drink so we don't have to get sober AGAIN. There is a treasure of info in these forums for help during difficult times also.

BE WELL

Jill23

We are all human, Truth. You have recognized your issues and have taken the first steps toward recovery.I'm in early recovery (15 days) and this forum has been my saving grace. Keep reading and posting, there is wonderful insight and advice here. Welcome

StraightAhead

Hi Truth,

I am just a week ahead of you. (Well, a week and a day.) I am not what most people would think of as an alcoholic, but I could see that I stood a good chance of heading in that direction. More and more wine every night, fixating on buying wine, etc. It was just a bad direction, and my family has a history of alcohol abuse too. So last Sunday I had my usual excess of wine, woke up feeling horrible, and for the thousandth time I said to myself "I have to quit drinking." Usually I don't really listen to that voice but last Sunday I did. Monday morning I resolved to quit drinking. I went and bought a really great book, called "The Easy Way to Quit Drinking", and read most of it in a day. That gave me a lot of insight into my problem and why I had made such an important decision. Alcohol is an insidious trap for people like me because we appear to be able to handle our drinking. But over time it turns out that alcohol is laying the groundwork to make us total addicts. I had not yet gotten to the point where I was drinking in the morning but I have no doubt that was in my future.

After just one week I feel so much better. I have lots more energy, don't fall asleep watching TV every night, don't have to feel embarrassed when I open up a second bottle of wine, don't have to wake up with a fat head. There are just so many benefits, I can barely count them all. I do miss that initial full flush of warmth that you get when you have that first glass of wine, but I just have to remember that is a fleeting feeling that leads to lots of other feelings that are not fleeting at all. And it's that first drink that leads to all the bad feelings.

So I think you've made a really important decision and I wish you good luck with it. Come back here this week and let us know how its going!